Broken Faded Alone
by Voodoo-Mutant-Child
Summary: When young Clementine meets a wild, rough, one-eyed boy, her as-of-late miserable life is turned around. The two children suddenly become 'we' and together they will try and brave this cruel world.
1. Remains of the Day

She was trapped, injured and all alone. Her old group had been overrun just the day before and she couldn't move far. The girl clutched her arm and frantically searched for a way out, there was no immediate route, the walkers were pushing her farther back against the thick tree line, it was getting dark and she did not want to get caught in there.

She felt around her pockets for the picture of Lee. "I-I'm sorry, Lee…" she whimpered. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the walkers to tear her apart. "HEY!" Clem's eyes flew open o see a small figure waving a flare at the walkers, "Come an' get me you rotting freaks!" She could barely see them as the boy went down, there was a scuffle, snapping of teeth and a yelp. The figure stood up, shoving the walker off of him. He laughed, "Shows how smart they are. HAH!"

She was huddled at the base of a large bush, hoping not to have been seen.  
"Hey, I know you're there. Y'don't have to hide. I won't hurt you."

"Promise?" Clem asked, looking at the form against the graying sky.

"Cross my heart an' hope to die! I probably will, so…yeah. No need to fear me." The boy extended his hand. "It's okay." Clem hesitantly took the boy's hand and got a better look at him. The boy had black hair that was very tangled and fell in his face. She noticed an especially dark shadow beneath his right eye, which she realized was an eyepatch. "What's your name?" Shayne asked.

"It's Clementine." She replied softly, averting her eyes.

"I'm Shane. Nice to meet you, Clementine, we'd better not hang around too long, I think I hear more biters." The boy, Shane said, looking around cautiously. And just like that, the two lost children became 'we.'

The two kids were sitting

"How'd you survive this long?" Shane asked Clementine as he carved a long stick to a deadly sharp point. The two Clem sighed, "I had a group as while back, they helped me. A man found me and took care of me for a while, his name was Lee." Shane noted her use of past tense. "What happened to him?"

Clem flinched, "He-he uh…died a long time ago."

Shane sighed, "I know the feelings kiddo." He looked a little distant and closed his eye. "I lost my family a while ago."  
Clem looked away, "Sorry." She replied softly.

"Nah, its fine. I'm totally over it." He thought for a moment, "Hey, wanna go find something to eat?" Clementine watched him, all too aware of the evasion. "Yeah, we better be careful though." She straightened her hat firmly on her head. "Let's go."

The two returned after an hour of fruitless searching, exhausted and still just as hungry, Clem and Shane returned to the hideout they'd occupied. "Man, that sucked. Find anything?" Shane asked Clementine who was flat on her back. "Nope." She replied sadly.

"We're gonna starve before the biters get to us, eh?"

Clem shuddered, "You're a very….'up' person y'know that?" Shane chuckled, and shrugged. "Just how you look at things I guess. " He leaned back against the wall. The two had managed to find an abandoned building, this room alone had a sturdy door.

Shane looked over a Clem and thought for a moment, "We need to set up traps. For food, _and_ walkers." Clem looked surprised at his seemingly ridiculous proposal. "_Walkers?" _

"Think about it, this is our... stronghold of sorts, and it makes sense to protect it! Like, we could hammer stakes into trees, set booby traps! We could be safe for a long time!"

"Aaand what if _we_ set off a trap or two?" Clem asked, seemed like a fair question.

"We'd make a map!" Shane said, holding out his hands as though envisioning the very near future. "A map!" He claimed again.

"Exactly how long have you been alone?" Clementine asked politely.

Shane shrugged, "I dunno, a while I guess."  
"That explains it." Clem muttered, she sighed. "We'll, for starters we're going to need supplies. How late is it?"  
Shane peeked out of the high window, "The sun is still kinda high, we got a little time." He nodded, "You wanna do this? Make a run now?"  
"Yeah, I mean, who knows, I may have to pull you out of a bind." Clem said, punching his arm as she went past him. Shane plastered on a grim, crooked smile on his face and followed.

Maybe things would be alright after all. Clementine had a family again; she could get over Christa, Omid, but not Lee. Lee would always be there, a little whisper in the back of her mind, telling her not to worry, not to be afraid, to be smarter than them, to be faster, and she vowed every day she woke in one piece that she would be. Shane was a lonely boy in a world filled with loneliness and betrayal after betrayal. He hardly knew any kindness and little love. He had no mother, father, brother or sister to help him. He had no one until Clem came along, so maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to calm down…

"Hey!" Clem called quietly, after they'd been walking for a while, the duo had stumbled across a ravaged campsite with little left over. She picked up a bit of rope, that looked like a pretty sorry piece of equipment.

_To be continued…._

_So, what did you think of that? I know it's a little short but, I'll write longer chapters in the long run._


	2. Kookaburra

_AN- Here we go for chapter 2! Sorry this took forever. I just finished it up this morning. _

_Note; the song used is "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" I love it, and decided to use it. Ain't mine, the only thing that belongs to me is Shane...and the other characters that are introduced._

_Guest- Well...make up a pairing name and I'll see what I can do...Haha. Nah, here you go._

_ShadowClub- That's your opinion. ;)_

_Pie guy- Here you go. Enjoy._

* * *

Shane smiled at Clem, "Yeah, well, that rope ain't gonna do us much good now is it?" He pointed out good naturedly.

"I guess…"

"Right, look here, some poor bastard left this behind," Shane held up a coil of wire that was mostly hidden under the RV. "Now _this _is useful." He declared as he stuffed it in Clementine's backpack. "We'll make booby traps." He claimed and went on. "Awh, there ain't nothing else here. Let's go back." He looked about fearfully; it was getting dark out… He waited for Clem to follow and led the way, whistling. _Don't be afraid, Shane. There's nothing to fear, so don't be scared of it. You're smarter than them, I promise._

_Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree_

_Merry, merry king of the bush is he_

_Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!_

_Gay your life must be_

_Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree_

_Eating all the gum drops he can see_

_Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!_

_Leave some there for me_

* * *

_ "Come on!" He heard his mother shout for him, the little boy heard a scream and the tearing of something…He didn't want to find out what it was. He stumbled after his mother, but stopped. He couldn't find her. Where was she? "Mom?" He called, suddenly feeling very alone. He ran behind a nearby car as he spotted someone lurching towards him, he brought his knees up to his chest and rocked back and forth, murmuring to himself a song his mother sang to him when he was afraid, _

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Merry, merry king of the bush is he

Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!

Gay your life must be

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

Eating all the gum drops he can see

Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!

Leave some there for me

_He screamed as the walker nearly fell on top of him, snapping its decaying jaws at him. He scrambled away as fast as he could; he tripped over himself and scrambled under the car. It attempted to follow him, and in a staggering moment of clarity he realized whose corpse it was. "Mama?" Shane whispered, terrified he kicked it with all his might. He managed to slow it down enough to get away, the boy half stumbled, half, ran down the street. He didn't stop until he felt as though his legs were jelly and his lungs were nearly bursting. He leaned against an old building, breathing hard. He dove through the window as he heard voices not too far away. People? Actual, proper people? He peered out to see who they were. Three burly, biker guys, he recognized them. They often terrorized the neighborhood and threw beer blasts every other _day_. The whole town hated them, and these were who he was stuck with in the end? Screw karma._

* * *

The two walked in silence for a while until they reached the building that they'd claimed as their own. "Tomorrow, we can head up to the feed mill and get some kind of bait. We'll figure it out tomorrow morning. For now, let's get some sleep, eh?"

Clementine nodded and said nothing, sensing that he did not want to talk. She simply went to her part of the room and curled up. Shane made sure everything was secure, the windows shut tight, and wood leaned against them and the door of course. Then went to lie down, he was only just drifting off when he realised Clementine was lying beside him, shivering a little. "You okay?"

He realised that she wasn't cold, but crying. Softly, he began to sing; "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree..."

"Rise and shine, Clementine!" Shane exclaimed as he shook her. "Come on, we have to go! Feed mill remember?"  
"Yeah…Okay." Clem murmured as she forced herself to stand. "Let's go."

They went on for a while, according to Shane's sense of direction, the feed mill was off to the north. If they kept going this way, they could get there with enough light to get home. _Home._ All that remained, she supposed.

"Tree!" Shane hissed, breaking into her thoughts. Not even questioning his words, she searched for a tree; Shane had swung up into the lower branches of a knotty pine, "Here!" He reached for her hand, and pulled her up into the tree. Just as several dozen walkers lurched below. "Whoa…" Clem whispered, clinging to Shane tightly. "Yup. A herd. Ever seen so many at once?"

Clem nodded and watched the macabre parade lurch beneath, the stench of rotting bodies made their eyes water, and it was nearly thirty minutes until they passed. Clem was breathing shallowly as she watched the last of them melt into the shadows. "We have to hurry now…" Shane said quietly, as he jumped out of the tree, followed by Clem.

They arrived at the feed mill a couple hours later, with no mentionable incidents. The ground was a bit marshy around the mill…

"I just hope the rats haven't gotten to it yet." Shane said a little wistfully. They managed to break the padlock on the door, with a little help from a large rock, and they slipped inside. The place smelled like rat pee, decay and musty seed. "Hope there's something salvageable here," Shane muttered to himself as he looked about. "Ah, here we go." He found a heavy duty bag of dried corn and other things. "Deer feed." He claimed, "Should attract other things too. AND the animals will lure the walkers into our traps. Though I'm not sure how that plays in our favour…." He shrugged and tried to heft it up, but failed miserably.

Clementine nodded, "Need help?"

"Yeah…" He froze as he heard voices nearing the mill. "Hide, quick!" he hissed and scrambled behind some barrels, Clem followed suit.

"Right, scout the place out. If you find anyone….well… deal with them." The gruff sounding man had said.

There were at least three people, a woman and two men. "Jamie, over here, look at this." The gruff man said, Clementine dared to peer around the barrel, he'd found their footprints. "They're very fresh, Warren," Jamie replied, looking about. "Small too….Children?" She looked about, "I doubt they're still here, Jamie." That was another woman. Clementine accidentally knocked something over, everyone froze, held their breaths…No one dared to move.

"Come on out…We won't hurt you…" Warren said in a softer tone.

Shane gritted his teeth, "Screw you bastards!" He called.

"Whoa now, easy, wasn't tryin' to upset you." He gestured towards the barrels. Jamie and the other man went forth to get them. "Well, well, well, two dirty little rats."

"Warren…don't scare them now, they're kids!" Jamie snapped at Warren, releasing Clementine gently. "Sorry, darlin' he's just a little…high strung. Don't worry about him."

Shane glared at the man who let him go. He was tall, and thin with thick-rimmed glasses. "Piss off Four-Eyes!" he snapped. The man simply rolled his eyes and backed away.

"Who are you?" Warren asked a lower voice that somehow sounded like a knife. Clementine was shaking, and looked to Shane, who nodded reluctantly. "I-I'm Clementine...""Shane." He replied, spitting at Warren, who simply grinned.

"You two have spirit, I'll give you that."

"What are you going to do with us?" Clementine asked, looking up at the man who held their lives in his hand.

"Don't you worry about getting' killed darling.' Ain't no one gonna hurt you. Tha's a promise." Warren replied, in a voice that sounded somewhat kinder than before.


	3. Don't Panic

_AN- Here we go for chapter 3. If it doesn't seem to make any sense, I apologise...It was largely unplanned, unfortunately. Bad Voodoo! _

_This will be a 10 Chapter story arc, and after this, there will be a spin-off series, which I have not planned yet. (Brace yourselves)_

_Pie Guy- Eh. If you were twelve, even if you were pretty tough you'd cry too. I think so, anyways. Although you do have a point, she seems a little off. I'll fix that in a chapter or two. Thank you. ;) _

_seniorcopycat- Thank you very much._

* * *

Shane growled at their 'captors' the whole way back. "So, what were you guys doing at the feed mill?" he asked Glasses. The guy sighed, looking to Warren who nodded. "There's a herd headed towards our camp, we lost one of our own on the way here."  
"Really?…You don't look too cut up about it."

"Yeah, well, he was an ass."

"That explains it." Shane snorted. "What's your name anyways?" he asked.

"I'm…Thomas. Tom, for short."

Clem was silent as she followed along after Warren, "Who did you lose?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Excuse me?" Warren asked, looking down at the little girl.

"I said who'd you lose? You're awfully…sad looking." Clem said, for a second she thought Warren was going to hit her, but he sighed, and looked at the ground. "My family…." He replied after a short while. Thomas and Erin looked at him, they had never ever heard him speak of his family, ever. They were actually very eager to hear more, but they were out of luck as Warren suddenly tensed and spun around, wildly looking about. "Shit!" The group paused, "What?" Thomas asked, he asked, eyes wide.

"Walkers, a lot of them…" They could barely hear the moans of a horde of walkers as they crashed through the woods, "We talk too loud, or what?" Shane grumbled sarcastically. "Go!" Warren hissed at his crew. And suddenly the woods seemed to erupt with noise as the walkers crashed through; it was too late to run…"Shane…" Clem hissed, seeing an opening to the right. "Guys!" she said, motioning towards the opening. "Come on!" She dashed forward, Shane in tow, and the two didn't stop running until they realized that only two people were following. Warren and Tom.

Shane looked confused at first until he saw the horrified look on Toms' face, Warren's hands splattered with blood. "Oh _shit_ he _killed_ his own people to save himself?" Shane murmured, Clem nearly tripped but Shane hauled her up. They stopped a little later, though a walker nearly got Tom, Shane beat it off until he noticed Warren wasn't following any longer.

"W-Where'd he go?" Tom asked, looking nervous.

"Hell if I know." Shane quipped. "Anyways, what happened?" he asked.

"I dunno…he stabbed them both…left them there for walker feed so we could get away…" Tom replied, shaking a bit. "I dunno what happened…Why…"

* * *

_Shane considered showing himself, but he knew that now, if he did they would almost certainly kill him. If he ran, they'd follow. He'd be, in short, simply fucked. So, he stayed hidden, at least until they started poking about. They were getting a little too close to his hiding place for comfort. He trembled violently, and tried not to make a sound, they were getting a little too close now…If he didn't run, and they'd catch him and kill him for sure! He darted out the way he'd come in and raced off, nearly succumbing to the grasping skeletal hands that reached for him as he rushed through the city. _

_He wouldn't die. He _couldn't _die. _

_Sometime later in the year…_

_He went for a long, long time without food, which was torment for him. Of course he'd found tidbits here and there, but it was only enough to keep him going a little longer. He was nearly skeletal, his belly was distended and his joints were far too oversized to be normal. He finally came across a general store that was nearly wiped clean, except for a few aisles. He crept over to one of the aisles that had some food; it turned out to only be ramen noodles. Dry. He ripped open the bag and tried his best to force it down. No wonder there was some of this worthless shit left…that was what it was, shit. It seemed to have gone bad…if that was possible; it was crumbly and vaguely musty. He threw it down, better to be starving than dead. No, that didn't make sense; nothing did anymore though, so how was he supposed to know? He heaved himself up, wobbling slightly, his muscles had wasted away to almost nothing now, and he needed something of nutritional value. He'd rather die than eat hat rotting flesh on the creatures out there. Shane looked about the darkened store until he found a can under a shelf; beans. He took his prize to a corner to attempt to open it. He froze as someone stepped in upon him, he held the can tight. _

_The guy grinned, "Hey kid, gimme the can, I'll open it for ya." Shane trembled, watching him closely. He didn't have the strength to run…He waited for a moment until the guy lunged at him, a knife in his hand. Shane yelped and pushed himself out of the way. "Give it to me kid, come on…" he pleaded, then with amazing speed threw himself upon the boy, trying to get the can, that had rolled away. The guy swiped his knife at Shane's face, dragging the serrated edge over his eye. Shane screamed, and kicked him as hard as he could. The man fell and gave a muffled shriek, Shane had no idea what had happened at first until he saw, with difficulty a pool of red staining the floor. He brought his hand away from his eye to see it sticky with his blood…_

* * *

Clem looked about, "We can't stay here, though. We have to go back!" She insisted, "Back to our hideout. The herd was passing to the south, and still was back there. We'll be safe there." Shane hesitated, she was right. "Okay…new plan, head back. And uh, Glasses, follow us."

"How long have you guys been surviving out here? Are you on your own?" Tom asked.

Clem nodded, "Yeah, for a while." She replied.

"Oh…"

"And how long have you been with Mr. Norman Bates and your group?" Shane asked sharply.

"A year now, I almost died when they found me." Tom replied quietly, he shrugged. "They were better then, I guess this life just…changes you. Make you hard. I dunno, it scares me."

"You ain't alone, brother." Shane grumbled. "Here we are." Shane said, gesturing to the small shack they occupied. "Welcome to our humble abode."


	4. Happy Birthday, Clementine

_Here you go, chapter...4? Yes. Sorry for the long delay. I'll TRY to get a new chapter up tomorrow, no promises. _

_A note, Ellis is NOT the character from L4D2 unfortunately. If I wanted to cross over with all the zombie franchises, I would._

* * *

Clementine screamed as a walker threw itself on top of her, Ellis and Tom rushed over to help, but stopped short as the Walker was already dead. Clem wiped a splatter of blood from her cheek and shoved past the two guys who watched her sadly.

"Are you alright?" Ellis asked and was answered by a growl of annoyance.

"Damn, I was just askin' there any harm in that?"

Clem walked on ahead with purpose, a machete held tightly in her hand. It was her birthday today, and she wondered if anyone knew, she'd told Tom and Glenn, two people she actually trusted now…but things were…different now.

She found a group, they had a fortress, well, a schoolhouse they had reinforced and was now a secure base. They had a total of seven survivours including Tom, Ellis, Riveria, Glenn, Jayne, Ronnie and herself. Ronnie and Jayne were two schoolchildren they came across hiding in a cupboard, as for Glenn, Ellis and Riveria, they were rescued after having been trapped in a parking lot by the herd. It seemed that now, something good might happen.

"Come on, daylight's wasting, we need to get to base before the sun even touches the horizon." She snapped at the two who were gawking. A year had gone by, now Clementine Marsh was untouchable. Ever since that night last year…well, they didn't talk about it. Ever.

"_Shane?! Shane, come on!" Clementine choked on the smoke that filled her lungs. The hideout was on fire, a careless ember, a spark floated from the campfire to set the place alight within the hour. There was a scream, "Willa!" Clementine shouted, and then stumbled toward the sound. Shane suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her away. "It's a herd!" he coughed out. _

"_Where's Thomas?" she asked. Shane's eyes went wide and he suddenly shoved her towards a tree. "I'll find him, stay here. I'll be right back, promise!" Clementine watched a macabre force of the walking dead as they surged onwards, their rotting flesh bathed in the orange glow of the flames that leaped higher, higher and higher into the darkness. The breeze swept her loose, curly hair about her face as she searched for any sign of Shane or Tom. She hid behind the tree, she ought to see if she could find them. _

"_Clementine!" _

"_Tom? Tom!" she shouted back. Tom ran ahead of the herd to find her, the nearest walker snapped at his hand, but luckily missed. "Where's Shane?" she demanded angrily, "What did you do to him?" she screamed at Tom. Tom shut his eyes, "He was right behind me, I have no idea…"_

_Clementine winced, "W-we need to go, now." She said, sounding as though her heart was breaking. Tom nodded, "Agreed." _

_Clem dragged Tom after her as they tried to get far enough away to rest. Clem leaned against a tree, showing no outward emotion on her face, she was done, simply…done. Shane, for the past six months had been her life, her reason for going on, the _only _reason to go on since Lee... well; they didn't talk about that either. She couldn't breathe for a scary five minutes and Tom, well, Tom was watching for the herd. She shut her eyes as though everything would go away…_

"_Just a nightmare…just a nightmare…" she muttered to herself. She couldn't picture a night without Shane there to help, without him making this shitty life just a little more bearable. What was she supposed to do now?  
Toughen up, that's what. She'd keep Tom around, if only for an extra pair of eyes, company too. She wondered if, by now she was crazy. No, she couldn't be if she was wondering about it. _

_The weeks passed, and all hope that Shane had somehow magically survived was assuaged._

_She soon became passionate about living, somehow thinking that she had to survive, no…_live _for the both of them now. _

"_It wasn't your fault, Clementine." _

"_It could have happened to anyone, Clem."_

"_He chose to go find me. It's going to be alright."  
"Shut up…" Clem snapped. _

_Tom looked taken aback, "Clem, I…."_

_Clem closed her eyes, "Leave me alone, will you? We have to go."_

Ellis looked at Tom, who shook his head and followed Clementine in the direction of the base. Riveria was waiting for them, her frizzy blonde hair stuck up all over her head and she looked concerned, the woman stood by to let Clementine through the gate, "Is she alright?" Riveria asked Ellis who shook his head.

"She still misses Shane….whoever he was." Ellis muttered.

"I don't blame her. You guys find anything?"

"Nah. A couple walkers, no food. We'll try to make it into town tomorrow."  
Clem was about to walk into the main lobby when Glenn grinned at her from the window, "Hey!" He offered her a tiny cupcake. "Hehe, Um… that was all the flour we could find? Sorry. But…" he stuck a candle in the middle of it then lit it.

"Happy birthday Clementine."


End file.
